


Halloween

by Ellie226



Series: Noah's New Life [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Age Play, Daddy Kink, Diapers, Discipline, Infantilism, M/M, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-13 19:47:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie226/pseuds/Ellie226
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave and Josh are going to give Noah the best Halloween ever, with Uncle Blaine and Kurt's help. And if things don't go quite as smoothly as planned, at least the costumes are cute?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween

Noah was sleeping, and Dave and Josh were sitting on the couch, talking. It had been several weeks since the trip to get doughnuts, and they were adjusting. Josh was over a lot, and they were all getting used to the idea of Josh being more of a family member than a friend.

Part of that was Josh weighing in on things more. Tonight, the conversation was about holidays. Specifically, it was about Halloween.

“It’s not like he can go trick or treating,” Dave argued. 

Josh shrugged, “I know. That doesn’t mean he can’t dress up. What if we invite Kurt and Blaine down? Halloween’s on a Friday; the boys can dress up, and we can have a little party. If he’s little, then shouldn’t he get to have a fun Halloween?”

“We were going to hand out candy.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Josh agreed. “We can sit on the couch, and pass out candy to little kids that get to dress up and eat themselves sick. Noah will love that.”

Dave gave him a look, “He’s not a little kid!”

“He’s our kid,” Josh pointed out. “And he would like dressing up. And eating popcorn and drinking cider, and watching something. Charlie Brown? Come onnnnnn. It’ll be fun.”

“He’ll think it’s stupid,” Dave protested.

“No he won’t. He’ll have a good time, if it looks like we’re having a good time. And from everything I’ve heard, he hasn’t had a decent Halloween since kindergarten. I thought the entire point of this whole thing with Noah was that he needed to have a better childhood. Halloween is part of being a kid.”

Dave was skeptical. He didn’t think that Noah would like celebrating Halloween. But, Josh had a point. So, Dave texted Blaine, and he began to plan.

Noah was not so gung ho about this plan when he was told the next morning. “I don’t wanna dress up, and I don’t wanna see Kurt.”

“It’s going to be fun,” Dave told him, cursing the fact that Josh hadn’t spent the night. This was his damn idea, and Dave thought it should have really been up to him to get the baby excited.

“Will not,” Noah said obstinately, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dave sat down in front of the high chair, setting bowls of oatmeal on the table, “Open,” he instructed, holding a spoon up to Noah’s mouth.

“I can do it.”

“Open,” Daddy repeated, raising an eyebrow. They were making progress, but Noah was apparently going to have a difficult day. “I made your favorite; it has apples.”

Noah actually did like the oatmeal like this, with the fried apples on top, but he didn’t want to let someone else feed him, “I can do it!”

“Noah Aaron, we’re not doing this today. Open your mouth, or you can sit in time out until you’re ready to listen,” Dave ordered.

With a pout, Noah did as he was told. He ate his oatmeal, making it very clear that he was ignoring Daddy’s stupid monologue about stupid Halloween and stupid Kurt coming down to visit.

“Done,” he said, pressing his lips together and shaking his head. He didn’t want any more stupid oatmeal.

Dave wanted to argue, wanted to tell Noah to eat more, but it was clear that the baby was unhappy. After taking a quick bite of oatmeal, he said, “Do you want to go to your playpen now?”

“Yes,” Noah told him. After a minute, seeing Daddy’s face, he added, “Please.”

Hearing the please, Daddy stood up and unstrapped the baby. Toting him to the playpen, he got Noah settled in, handing him a bottle with formula. “I want you to drink that.”

“I don’t yike formula,” Noah groused.

Dave nodded, leaning on the playpen and looking down on Noah, “I know. It’s icky. But you didn’t want to eat any more, and you need the food, so you’re going to drink that without giving Daddy a hard time. Understood?”

“Fine,” Noah bratted, sticking the bottle in his mouth and giving it a sullen pull. “‘m drinking it,” he said around the bottle, glaring at Daddy.

“Thank you, bug,” Dave said mildly, leaning on the rail to kiss Noah’s forehead. Returning to the table, he kept an eye on Noah while eating his oatmeal and texting Josh. He needed backup. 

Noah spent his morning pouting in the playpen. He fell asleep before Daddy could move him to the crib for a morning nap. And when he woke up, Josh was there.

Sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, Noah saw Josh sitting at the kitchen counter and talking to Daddy. 

“Josh!”

“Noah!” Josh mimicked, going to the playpen and opening it so he could pick the boy up. “What’ve you been up to?”

“Nofin’. You come to play wif me?”

“Maybe,” Josh told him. “I got bored with my work, and I thought that I knew someone who could entertain me pretty well.”

Noah squirmed to get down, wanting to play with his toys, but Josh held him firmly, “I thought we could talk about Halloween.”

That got a pretty impressive pout, and Josh had to bite his cheeks to prevent himself from laughing, “Not dressin’ up.”

“It’ll be fun,” Josh tried. “Daddy and I are going to wear costumes. Don’t you want to? We’ll have a party...”

“Don’t want stupid Kurt.”

Josh sat Noah on the counter then, placing his hands on either side of him so the boy couldn’t move, “We don’t call people stupid, Noah Aaron. You know that.”

“I don’t yike him.”

“You don’t have to like him,” Josh said firmly. “You can’t name call though. If you do it again, then we’re going to be having a discussion with a bar of soap. Got it?”

Noah’s hands flew up to cover his muth, “No soap!” Daddy hadn’t done that yet, and Noah had no interest in finding out what soap tasted like. Kurt said it was yucky.

“Then stop with the name calling,” Josh told him. 

Noah nodded, chastened, and stared at his knees, “Yes, Josh.”

Dave watched the scene, recognizing that they didn’t need him to intervene. It had been a hard thing for him to learn, but he knew that Josh was good for Noah.

“Who wants lunch?” he asked.

Noah didn’t say anything, silently leaning forward into Josh until the man picked him up. Slipping his thumb in his mouth, he rested his head on Josh’s shoulder.

“What do you say, baby? Are you hungry?” Josh asked, bouncing him a little bit. Noah still didn’t respond well to reprimands, especially from him. It wasn’t pouting so much as it was embarrassment that Josh had to say something.

Noah nodded, not removing his thumb from his mouth, and Dave reached over to chuck his chin. “Well, you’re in luck because I made mac and cheese.”

“Really?” Noah asked, looking at Daddy uncertainly. He’d been cranky all morning, and he hadn’t expected Daddy to make him macaroni when he was being naughty.

“Of course really,” Dave told him, holding out his arms for the boy. “I made mac and cheese, and I heated up some apple sauce. How does that sound?”

“Good,” Noah told him, giving him a squeeze. “Fank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Can Josh get you settled in your high chair?” Daddy asked, handing him back over when the boy nodded.

They enjoyed their lunch together, and after lunch, Noah convinced Josh to play with him. When the other man tried to talk about Halloween costumes, he was rebuffed.

“‘m not dressin’ up. That’s for babies,” he insisted.

After several attempts, Daddy and Josh decided to let it go. Josh told Noah, “We’ll come up with something, cookie monster. You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”

Despite their best efforts, Noah didn’t want to be involved in their Halloween planning, so Daddy and Josh did it all. They planned for Uncle Blaine and Kurt to visit, they made sure they had food, and they made plans for keeping the boys entertained. Josh took over Halloween costumes. He wouldn’t even tell Dave what he was getting.

On Halloween, Josh arrived while Noah was napping. In the morning. When Dave raised his eyebrow at him, Josh defended himself, “I convinced you to do this; I figured that I should help.”

“I think you just want to see Noah all dressed up before Kurt and Blaine get here.”

“I would have anyway,” Josh reasonably pointed out. “I brought the costumes over, by the way, and he’s going to be adorable.” He handed over several bags, then started back out the door. “The rest is in my car.”

That seemed vaguely ominous. Dave didn’t understand why they needed so much stuff. Nonetheless, he started to put things away, waiting for Josh to bring in more stuff.

“Why do we need this much candy?” he asked his boyfriend, when the man returned.

Josh smiled, opening up a bag and pouring it into a bowl, “For trick or treaters. And maybe a little bit for the baby.”

As if he heard himself being discussed, Noah chose that minute to begin calling for Daddy. “Can I go up and get him?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, just call me if he needs me to change him,” Dave told him, leaning against the counter and forcing himself to not race up the stairs ahead of Josh. His boyfriend was nice, and the baby liked him. 

When Josh got up to the nursery, he found a pouting Noah sitting in his crib, gripping the bars tightly with his right hand while hugging Oscar in his left elbow and sucking furiously on his thumb. 

“DADDY!” he yelled around his thumb, just before Josh came around the corner. “JOSH!” he shrieked, holding one arm up.

“NOAH!” Josh yelled back at him, smiling broadly. Being greeted like that had to make someone feel better about themselves.

“You come to play wif me? We do art?” Noah asked, as he struggled to his feet and began ineffectually pushing the side of the crib.

Josh opened the crib, and Noah launched himself, a tackling, full body, hug, that made Josh want to sit and cuddle.

“I came to help decorate for tonight,” he explained. “And bake. Daddy said something about cookies?”

Noah had started to pout, but the mention of cookies had him bouncing a little as he smiled, “Uh huh, but we bakeded ‘em already. ‘m a good measurer, an’ I did mostly good wif eggs.”

“I know you’re a good measurer because you’re such a smart baby,” Josh praised. “Shall we go decorate them?”

The baby gripped Josh’s hand, leading him over to the changing table, “‘m wet,” he announced. Noah still didn’t like the diapers, but he was adjusting, and it didn’t make much of a difference to him anymore who changed him (if the choice was between Daddy and Josh, and the diaper was only wet).

Dave and Josh had agreed to follow Noah’s lead on things like this. They had both explained to Noah, numerous times, that it was up to him to ask for Josh to do things like diaper changes and bath time. The only thing that Josh had held absolutely firm on was that talking at night had to involve Dave, even if Josh stayed for it. There had been a few hiccups when Noah overestimated what he was ready for, but they had found that consistently treating things like they were no big deal made Noah feel more comfortable expressing his wants.

“You’re wet?” Josh parroted, helping the boy up onto the table. “Well, let’s get you dry. And I think that you probably need some pants, mister.”

“Overalls is too twisty when I sleep,” Noah explained, laying back. He chatted away happily with Josh, more of a monologue than a discussion, about what he wanted to do this afternoon.

“An’ we play wif my trains? Pleeeeeeease, Josh?”

Josh finished powdering Noah, fastening up the sides of the diaper and stopping to blow a quick raspberry on Noah’s belly.

The boy shrieked, curling on his side, then looked reproachfully at Josh, “Trains,” he demanded, wanting an answer immediately.

“Trains? I think that Daddy has some plans for us, cookie monster.” Lowering his face toward Noah’s, Josh wiggled his eyebrows as he said, “Plans involving frosting!”

“Cookies!” Noah remembered, sitting up and trying to climb off of the changing table. Josh caught him, helping him safely down, then grabbed for the overalls discarded over the arm of the rocker. 

“Let’s get some pants on you, first,” he told Noah.

Once Noah had his overalls back on, the boy raced to his crib to grab Oscar and his blanket, then held out his arms to be picked up.

“Carry,” he demanded. Adding in, “Please.” Josh liked please, and so did Daddy. Noah had found that please and thank you got a lot of what he wanted.

“Carry please?” Josh repeated, hoisting the boy onto his hip and shifting him to get a good grip. “You’re using your nice manners today, cookie monster.”

“Monsters don’t have nice manners,” Noah explained seriously, baring his teeth. “They is f’rocious.” He bared his teeth in explanation, growling a little.

“So you’re not my cookie monster today?” Josh asked, starting down the stairs.

Noah buried his face into the crook of Josh’s neck, stealing a quick inhale before he playfully nipped, “‘m a monster. My nice manners is for bein’ tricky.”

“They are?” Josh asked, gently swatting Noah. “No biting, Noah; it’s not nice.”

“Was just a little bite,” Noah protested. He’d barely used his teeth at all. “Monsters is bite-y, Josh. Is what they do.”

“No biting at all,” Josh admonished. He knew how Dave felt about Noah getting aggressive when he played, and he tried to respect that. “Be a non-biting monster.”

Walking into the kitchen, Josh let Noah down, “Look who woke up,” he told Dave, who found himself with an armful of monster.

“Daddy! Josh says is no bitin’ at all,” Noah explained, attempting to scramble up Dave’s side and giving a happy little sigh when Daddy simply picked him up.

“Josh is right,” Dave told Noah, giving him a squeeze.

“But monsters is bitey,” Noah explained, squirming to get down. 

Dave ruffled his hair, saying, “So you’re a monster today, bug?”

“Uh huh! Monsters is very f’rocious, Daddy. They is scary. See?” Noah made his scariest monster face at Daddy, gratified when Dave flinched.

“That’s pretty scary, bug,” he agreed. “No more biting though, got it?”

“Uh huh. I dec’rate cookies now?”

“I don’t know,” Dave teased. “Do monsters eat cookies?”

“I think cookie monsters do,” Josh reasonably pointed out.

Dave had put out the frosting and the cookies, and he turned Noah toward the sink and gave him a gentle pat, “Go wash your hands then, little monster.”

Noah hopped over to the sink and quickly washed his hands. Then, he ran back to Dave and leaned into his side, “I help? I can be a good helper.”

“You’re such a good helper,” Dave told him. “Can you grab the sprinkles from the pantry, baby?”

Noah nodded, going into the small pantry and looking, “We need orange sprinkles,” he narrated. “An’ we need black sprinkles. An’ we need gween sprinkles. An’ we need red sprinkles.”

“Are we making Christmas cookies?” Josh asked.

“Nooooo,” Noah scoffed. “Red is for blood, and gween is for monster faces. Hall’ween cookies got lots of blood.”

“That makes sense,” Josh agreed, grabbing the boy from behind and hugging him. “So smart,” he praised.

Noah blushed a little bit at that, leaning back against Josh. He’d never had anyone who said as nice of things about him as Josh and Daddy did. And they even sounded like they meant it, which made Noah want to try harder.

“Come on, my smart baby,” Josh murmured, kissing Noah’s cheek.

Noah nodded, sliding out from under Josh’s arm and carrying the sprinkles to the counter. He patted a stool, “Josh sit here. Please?”

When Josh sat down, he was happy to have Noah climb up onto his lap, “You show me how to dec’rate f’rocious monster cookies?”

“How about you show me how you think we should do it?” Josh asked, shifting the boy so he could put his arms around him and grab a cookie.

“But you is an artist,” Noah calmly explained. 

“But you’re a ferocious monster,” Josh told him. “I would think you would know the most about making ferocious monster cookies.”

That was an idea that Noah hadn’t thought of, and he pondered it for a moment before saying, “Well, there is no raisins, acause monsters don’t like bein’ tricked.”

“They’re pretty tricky though.”

Noah nodded, “Uh huh. Monsters trick not monsters; they don’t get tricked. Is why they don’t like raisins.”

“Okay, so there’s no raisins. What do we do then?”

Dave had stopped what he was doing, watching his boyfriend play with the baby. They were so cute together, and Dave surreptitiously pulled his phone from his pocket, snapping a quick picture.

“Daddy!” Noah protested.

“I had to take a picture of my beautiful boy before he got frosting all over his face,” Dave told him, leaning in for a quick kiss. “I need to run to the grocery store to pick up some drinks. Will you be okay with Josh?”

“Uh huh,” Noah told him, focused again on the cookies. 

Dave nodded, “Show Josh your good behavior,” he instructed. Smiling at his boyfriend, he said, “Don’t let him eat too much sugar.” He started to the door, and then backtracked, “Two cookies, with an amount of frosting that I would say was okay, got it?”

Noah made a face, but he continued working on his cookies. He’d been hoping for frosting loopholes, but he knew that Josh wouldn’t do something if Daddy specifically told him not to.

“Show me how you make monster cookies,” Josh nudged Noah.

“Cookie monster,” Noah giggled, getting a dig in his ribs from Josh.

“Yes, my cookie monster, show me how to make the cookies of your people,” Josh replied, blowing a raspberry against Noah’s neck.

“Is gween frosting,” Noah explained seriously, spreading it across the cookie. “Then he gots oozy blood,” he narrated, adding sprinkles. “An’ only one eye,” he put an m&m down.

“Does he have teeth?” Josh asked.

Noah nodded, eyes lighting up when he saw candy corn, “He gots very f’rocious teeth for biting,” he explained. Once he’d put in a row of candy corn, Noah held the cookie up to Josh’s mouth. “Eat.”

“You made it for me?” Josh asked him, surprised. He’d expected Noah to want to eat his own masterpiece.

“Uh huh,” Noah’s ears reddened as he looked down at the new plain sugar cookie he’d grabbed. 

“Thank you, cookie monster,” Josh told him, taking a bite. “This is delicious! You are being such a good sharer.”

Noah smiled shyly, continuing to decorate his cookie, and Josh began to work on his own, handing the completed product over to Noah.

“You makeded Oscar!” Noah grinned, turning to look at Josh.

“I did,” Josh agreed. “Does he taste good?”

“You makeded Oscar for me?” Noah asked.

Josh nodded, “Try him, cookie monster. If he tastes good, we should probably try to make an Oscar cookie for Daddy too, don’t you think?”

It didn’t take too much encouragement, and Noah quickly consumed the cookie, getting frosting on his face in the process.

“Is very good,” he told Josh, leaning back against the man. “You makeded more Oscars?”

“I’ll make some Oscars, and why don’t you make some too?”

“No, you make the Oscars,” Noah replied. “I will make a more different monster.”

By the time Daddy got home, Noah had eaten his allotted two cookies, along with sneaking a few m&ms, and he had a fair amount of frosting smeared across his face and his shirt.

“I leave you with my baby, and I think I came home to some sort of boy made out of frosting,” Dave teased, reaching out for his baby.

Noah happily went to Daddy, snagging a cookie on his way, “Eat,” he instructed, holding it to Dave’s mouth. “We makeded monster cookies for you!”

They spent a very happy hour decorating cookies together, before Daddy decreed that Noah needed a bath and toted the baby upstairs while Josh started working on snacks.

Noah splashed happily in his bath, careful to not get water on Daddy, while Dave worked on getting him less sticky.

“After bath,” Dave narrated, “it’s going to be time for a little lunch, and then little cuddle bugs need to take a nap. When you wake up, we’ll have a snack that is not cookies, then we’ll carve pumpkins before we get dressed in our costumes. Uncle Blaine and Kurt are coming for dinner. Do you want to watch Great Pumpkin after dinner, or should we watch Monsters, Inc? And I think that Josh maybe has some games or something too.”

Noah shrugged, “I gotta wear a costume?” he asked.

“Baby, can you tell Daddy why you don’t want to wear a costume?” Dave asked gently, continuing to avoid eye contact and focus on washing Noah’s arms.

“Acause is for babies. Big boys don’t dress up for Hall’ween. Is just for little babies.”

“You’re my baby,” Dave told him, “and that’s not true, anyway. Grown ups dress up for Halloween even. Josh made costumes for all three of us.”

“Josh makeded costumes?” Noah asked, his interest piqued.

Dave nodded, and he watched as Noah clearly debated whether he was going to capitulate, “If’n I yike the costumes,” he stipulated, “I would maybe wear ‘em. But what if’n I don’t?”

“Then we’ll figure something out. I don’t want you-” Dave stopped himself, trying to figure out what he wanted to convey. “If you really don’t like your costume, then you don’t have to wear it. I think you would have fun though, baby, and Josh and I will be wear costumes. It’s not just for babies.”

“I will fink about it,” Noah responded.

“That’s my sweet boy,” Daddy praised, grabbing a towel. “Time for a little snooze and some lunch, cuddle bug. Shall we rock while you have your bottle?”

Noah didn’t last long in the rocking chair, the warm formula making him fall asleep quickly and sleep like a stone for several hours before finally waking.

He was confused, still half-asleep when he sat up, and he called for Dave, “Daddy!” he cried. His diaper was icky, his mouth tasted gross, and Noah wanted a bottle.

“DADDDDDD-DYYYY,” he yelled, irritated.

Dave came in then, smiling at the disgruntled little baby, “Hi, baby. How was your snooze?”

Noah held his arms out, wanting to be picked up. He needed a new diaper, and he wanted to brush his teeth. “Up,” he demanded.

“Up please?” Daddy asked, letting down the side of the crib. 

Noah didn’t want to say please, but he was willing to nod. 

“Are you still sleepy, sweetheart?” Daddy asked, sitting down and allowing Noah to crawl into his lap. Noah buried his face against Daddy’s neck, shaking his head. “Just need cuddles?” Dave asked.

Noah nodded at that, hugging Daddy tightly.

“Let’s get you all cleaned up,” Dave murmured, standing up and walking Noah to the changing table. “Then, we can go downstairs and have a snack. Would you like that?”

“My teef is ick,” Noah mumbled, thumb in his mouth.

“Your teeth are ick? We can fix that,” Dave told him, quickly changing Noah’s diaper and helping him back into his overalls. “Are you brushing them, or do you want Daddy to do it?”

“Daddy do,” Noah mumbled, holding out his free hand and motioning to be picked up. They went to the bathroom and brushed Noah’s teeth, then joined Josh downstairs. Noah remained clingy while they had a snack, but he started to relax when Josh put pumpkins on the table.

“Can you help me carve these, cookie monster? I think that Daddy was going to make pumpkin seeds.”

Noah looked at Josh, perplexed, “How you make pumpkin seeds?”

“Um, you roast them, I think,” Josh said. He’s always carved pumpkins, but he’d never bothered to do anything with the seeds. “I’m not really sure,” he admitted.

Dave interjected, “You roast them in the oven, but I need someone to scoop them out of the pumpkins first. Should we make them sweet, or salty?”

Noah shrugged, intrigued, but he willingly knelt up on a dining room chair to watch as Josh carefully cut into the top of the pumpkin, removing it.

“Can you help me pull out the inside?” Josh asked, sticking his hand in.

Noah hesitantly reached into the pumpkin, smiling when he felt the inside. Josh nodded, “You have to pull out that stuff, and then we pick out the seeds so Daddy can roast them.”

“I help?” Noah asked, looking at Dave.

“Yeah, bug, if you want. You can help me mix up whatever we roast them with. I figure we should do half with salt. Do you think you can help me measure?”

“‘m a ex’llent measurer,” Noah told him, smiling. He helped a lot in the kitchen.

“I know you are,” Dave told him. “Get all the guts out, and then we can roast the seeds.”

“Is not guts, Daddy,” Noah told him, scooping out another handful and carefully searching through for seeds to drop in the bowl.

“That’s what people call them,” Dave defended himself.

“Nu uh.”

“What do you think they are?” Dave asked, sitting on the other side of the baby.

“Dunno,” Noah said. “Is goopy though.”

Dave helped Noah empty out the first pumpkin while Josh cut open the second. Once both pumpkins were cleaned, Daddy carried the seeds to the kitchen.

Returning to Noah, Daddy squatted in front of him to ask, “Do you want to help me with the seeds, or are you going to help carve the pumpkins with Josh?”

“Knives is not for me. Only grown ups,” Noah reminded.

“Yeah, but you can help decide how Josh carves,” Dave told him. “If you want. Or you can help me with the seeds.”

Noah furrowed his brow, considering his options. He’d never done either before, and he couldn’t decide.

“What if,” Josh suggested, “you carve with me, and Daddy saves some of the seeds to roast for tomorrow? That way you can do both?”

Noah looked at Dave, trying to gauge his response, and Daddy stood up. “I think that sounds like a good idea,” he told Noah, leaning down for a kiss. “Does that sound okay for you?”

He had really wanted to try both, so he nodded happily, and Josh and Noah worked on carving pumpkins while Daddy roasted the pumpkin seeds. Noah had been quiet since waking up, but Josh managed to get him interested enough to talk, asking either/or questions so Noah could tell him what to do with the pumpkin. 

“I brought some stuff for later. Do you want to do art with me?” he asked casually, when Noah had relaxed enough to be talking more freely.

Noah was sucking on his lower lip, watching Josh carefully, but he said, “What kind of art?”

“Stuff to make glow in the dark cloud dough monsters.”

“What?” Noah asked. Sometimes, he thought that Josh just made stuff up.

“Cloud dough. Don’t you and Daddy have cloud dough?”

“Is no such thing, Josh,” Noah accused.

“There is too. It’s kind of like play dough, but...”Josh tried to come up with an description, settling for, “Lighter.”

“It glows?” Noah asked, intrigued by this idea.

Josh nodded, “I have a recipe to make it glow, and I brought everything. You like play dough, right?”

Noah nodded, and Josh continued, “So, we can make the cloud dough, and then use it to make monsters. I’ve got eyes and stuff too.”

Dave was listening to them, impressed. He had toys for Noah, and they had play dough and crayons, but Josh had clearly been looking for creative activities to do with Noah. It seemed like a good, special, type of thing for Josh to do with Noah.

“Does that sound good?” Josh asked Noah, smiling when he got a nod. “Cool. We need to let Kurt play too though, or I’m not going to show you how to do it. Got it, sunshine?”

Noah wasn’t thrilled with that, but he begrudgingly agreed. Josh had cool ideas, and he made the best art, way better than Daddy, but he also insisted that Noah listen to him about stuff. That was the not so fun part about having Josh play, but he more than made up for it.

They finished carving the pumpkins, and then it was time for costumes. Noah still wasn’t sold on the idea, but he agreed to let Josh show him what he’d come up with.

“How about I show you, and we surprise Daddy?” Josh asked, holding out a hand to the boy.

Noah looked at Dave, trying to gauge his response, then he slowly nodded. “But if’n I don’t yike it,” he started.

Dave cut in, “Then you don’t need to put it on. Daddy promises. We make choices for you when it’s about you being safe and healthy. If you don’t want to wear a Halloween costume, then you don’t have to.”

Noah looked at Josh, checking to make sure that he understood, then took his hand, “I will try,” he said.

“Such a brave boy,” Josh praised, leading Noah to his nursery. He was carrying a bag with Noah’s costume in it, and when they got there, he pulled it out.

“You makeded Oscar!” Noah said, amazed. 

“Yeah,” Josh smiled. “Do you like it?”

“I get to be Oscar?”

Josh nodded, shaking the costume out to full length offering it to Noah so he could feel it, “If you want. I made you an Oscar costume so you could match your friend, and I made just different monsters for Daddy and for me.”

“We all gon’ be monsters?” Noah looked up at that, wavering about whether to wear a costume. “Kurt not gon’ make fun of me?”

“No, Kurt is not allowed to make fun of you.”

“I will try it on,” Noah allowed. He let Josh help him strip down to his diaper before pulling on the furry costume. He put the hood up and grabbed Oscar, starting down the stairs. “Daddy!” he said, when he got to the living room.

Dave didn’t know what to say; Noah’s costume was adorable. His baby stood at the bottom of the steps, smiling bashfully.

“Josh makeded me a monster costume so I match Oscar,” he explained.

Dave held out a hand, motioning for Noah to come over, “You look wonderful, baby. Very ferocious.”

Noah climbed onto Daddy’s lap, chewing on his lip. “Kurt not ‘llowed to make fun of me?”

“He’s not going to make fun of you. Everybody’s going to be nice tonight. If Kurt’s naughty, then he’ll get a spanking. And he’s going to be in a costume anyway, bug.”

“What Kurt gon’ be?” Noah asked.

Dave smiled at that. He’d been privy to Kurt’s costumes over the years, and it was always a surprise. “I have no idea.”

“You put on your costume too?” Noah asked, standing and pulling at Daddy’s hand.

Josh had been standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching his boyfriend comforting the baby and giving the two of them some privacy. When Noah stood, he said, “Do you want to wear it, cookie monster?”

Noah nodded shyly as he walked toward the stairs with Daddy, stopping to give Josh a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. Nobody had ever made him a costume before. 

Josh hugged Noah tightly, murmuring, “You are very welcome, little monster. Are you ready to show Daddy his costume?”

That got a nod, and Noah motioned to be picked up, wanting to be carried. Burying his face into Josh’s neck, he giggled a little when the man staggered, pretending to drop him.

“Monsters are heavy,” Josh exclaimed, sneaking a quick kiss.

“Is acause we gots heavy bones,” Noah explained. “Acause they is super strong.”

Josh smiled at that, asking, “Do you have to drink a lot of milk to get these strong bones?”

“Don’t yike milk,” Noah told him, as they walked into his nursery. “Daddy makes me drink it, but it’s ick.”

“Because milk is good for little boys,” Dave reminded Noah, walking over to Josh’s bag.

“Is ick,” Noah told him again, squirming down and running over to the rocking chair to sit. “And ‘m not a little boy; ‘m a f’rocious monster. Grrrrrr.”

“Well, it’s good for ferocious monsters too,” Dave told him, looking at the costumes. “Did you make these?” he asked Josh.

His boyfriend shrugged, explaining, “I have a friend who does theatre costumes. I bartered a mural for her daughter’s room in exchange for her making costumes from my designs.”

Dave was impressed. The costumes were detailed, and it was clear that Josh had spent a lot of time considering how to make them different while still similar.

“Put ‘em on,” Noah ordered, sucking his thumb and rocking. “Oscar wants to see ‘em.”

“Does Oscar have nice manners?” Dave asked, looking at Noah.

The baby shook his head, “Monsters don’t got nice manners, Daddy.”

“Well, if he wants to see the costumes, he’s going to have to learn some,” Dave explained calmly, putting the costume down. Noah was normally pretty good about manners, but it was the first thing to go when he was nervous or stressed out.

“Oscar says please,” Noah said, not happy. He brightened up when he saw how Daddy and Josh looked in their costumes. 

Smiling at the broad grin on his baby’s face, Dave checked his watch and then said, “We’ve got about half an hour until Uncle Blaine and Kurt get here. What would you like to do, my Noah?”

Noah shrugged, and Dave held out his hand, “Why don’t we go downstairs? Can you help me finish getting ready?”

The baby held his arms up, clearly wanting to be carried, and Dave obliged. “What we gots to do still?”

“Josh brought something,” Daddy explained, toting Noah to the first floor and putting him down on a chair.

“What else you bring?” Noah asked Josh. He was starting to think that Josh’s car was like Mary Poppins’ bag. He always had stuff to do, usually stuff that Noah had never tried.

“The glow in the dark cloud sand. We need to make that before Kurt gets here, if you want to make monsters out of it,” Josh explained, grabbing yet another grocery bag and dumping stuff out on the table. “Can you show me what a good measurer you are?”

“‘m an ex’llent meas’rer! Daddy said,” Noah told Josh, taking the large, plastic measuring cup. 

“I know,” Josh told him. “Can you read the recipe? What do we do first?”

Noah reluctantly took the slip of paper. He still wasn’t so fond of reading stuff, but Daddy and Josh were always making him. They thought they were being tricky ‘bout it, but Noah knew.

“Eight cups of flour,” he recited, “Wif crushed glow chalk.”

“It’s in sticks. How should we crush it?” Josh asked.

Noah shrugged. Dave had told Josh that Noah was still hesitant to answer questions when he was doing something new, and Dave was adamant that they had to keep encouraging him.

“Do you remember what we did to smash the pistachios for the chicken last week?” Dave prompted.

“Wif the hammer?” Noah asked, looking at Daddy to see if he was right.

“That’s exactly right, bug,” Dave praised. “Can you go and get it? Do you remember where it is?”

Noah nodded, hurrying off to get the meat tenderizer and bring it back. Josh had sealed up the chalk in a bag, and he handed it over to Noah. “Can you crush it up so it’s like dust?” he asked. “Use the flat part, not the other side.”

“I know,” Noah told him, bringing the hammer down hard. “Acause it will tear the bag if you use the bump part.”

“I’m going to get a drink,” Dave said, standing up. “Josh, would you like a drink?”

Josh nodded, and Daddy stopped behind Noah, kissing the boy’s head, “Do you want something, baby?”

“I have some juice please?” Noah asked, very focused on pulverizing the chalk.

Dave hugged him, saying, “You can, if you’d like, but I have something kind of special if you want.”

Noah nodded absently, continuing to pound on the bag, and Dave went to grab drinks. Josh smiled, at Noah, “Looks like it’s little bits. Can we mix it now, do you think?”

“Uh huh?” Noah asked, not sure. 

“What do we do now, monster?”

Noah slowly dragged his finger over the first step of the recipe again, double checking it, “We put the flour in the bowl wif the chalk dust.”

“You are so good at following recipes,” Josh praised. “Can you measure?”

Noah nodded at that, carefully scooping the flour and levelling it like Daddy had shown him. Once he’d counted out the eight cups of flour, he added in the contents of the bag. “Now I mix?” At Josh’s nod, Noah turned, saying, “Daddy? I need a spoon please?”

“Use your hands, baby,” Josh encouraged.

Noah obligingly put his hands in the bowl, mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly before he read the next step. “Now I put in veg’ble oil?”

Daddy came back with the drinks then, putting everything down. He sat on Noah’s other side, smiling at Josh while the baby poured in vegetable oil.

“I mix wif my hands ‘gain? It’ll be ick,” Noah said.

“It’ll feel squishy, but it’s okay,” Josh reassured him.

Cooking was something that they did often. Dave encouraged Noah to read the recipes for him and help him with at least one meal a day, and it was paying off. Daddy could see Noah starting to relax with the familiar activity. 

“Is all done,” he announced, pride evident in his voice. “What we do now?”

“Now,” Josh told him, “we have to use my extra special glow light so our monsters are scarier. Are you ready?”

“Josh,” Noah said, tone condescending, “‘m a very scary monster. I’m prob’ly more f’rocious than any other monster ever.”

“My apologies, Mr. Monster,” Josh told him, rummaging through a box and pulling out a small lamp. “We need to turn the regular lights off though.”

“Noah, is that alright?” Dave asked. The baby still had a hard time with the dark, although it wasn’t as bad if there were other people.

“Uh huh,” Noah told Daddy, getting off his chair and going to Josh to climb onto his lap. “‘m ready.” 

Dave hit the light, and Josh turned on the lamp, making the mixture in the bowl glow. Noah’s eyes got wide, “How it do that?”

“I soaked the chalk in glow water,” Josh said, smiling at the boy. He had tested the recipe himself, but he had still been a little nervous that it wouldn’t work for some reason.

“Is no such thing as glow water,” Noah said reproachfully. Teasing wasn’t nice.

Before he could climb off Josh’s lap and go to Daddy, he felt Josh’s arms encircling him, “Is too,” the man told him. “You soak highlighters in water. I’ll show you another time. Okay? I heard you can make glow in the dark bubbles. Maybe if we get another nice day, we can try that?”

Noah relaxed against Josh. He didn’t understand how that worked, but Josh sounded certain that it was possible, so he probably wasn’t teasing.

That was when Kurt and Uncle Blaine walked in, and Noah grabbed the arms encircling his waist, holding them in place.

“Hey,” Blaine said, “what are you up to, peanut? That looks like fun.”

Dave and Josh waited for Noah to answer. When he didn’t, Josh nudged, “Noah, baby, Uncle Blaine asked you a question.”

“We makeded cloud dough,” Noah explained softly, not making eye contact.

“That’s fun,” Blaine said quietly, sitting beside the boy. “How did you make it glow?”

“Josh did it,” Noah still wouldn’t look at Blaine, and the other man stood up.

“Baby,” he told Kurt, “do you want to change into your costume?”

Kurt was feeling very awkward. This was the first time he’d seen Noah and Uncle Dave since he’d been so naughty, and he could tell that Noah was upset. Reaching for Blaine’s hand, Kurt nodded, “You too?”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” Blaine told him. Smiling at Josh and Dave, Blaine told them, “We’ll be down in a few minutes. Kurt’s been really eager to show off the costumes he made for us.”

Dave nodded, “The guest room is all clear for you guys. I can’t wait to see your costume, Kurt.”

That got a little smile from Kurt. At least Uncle Dave wasn’t still mad at him. Tugging on Daddy’s hand, Kurt made his way upstairs.

Noah reached for his cup, eager to have something to do so he didn’t have to talk to Daddy and Josh. Dave leaned over to click on the light, looking at the baby. Instead of yelling though, he reached over and took one of Noah’s hands.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dave told him calmly. “Daddy promises.”

Noah nodded, taking a gulp from his cup and coughing at the unexpected flavor and the bubbles. “I get soda?” he choked out.

“It’s not soda; it’s bleeding heart punch. And I figured just this one time was okay,” Dave explained.

Looking through the sides of the clear sippy cup, Noah smiled a little. Daddy let Noah have sugar, although he had to eat lots of veg’bles and fruit too and drink way too much milk, but he wasn’t never ‘llowed to have soda acause it was very bad for little boys. In all fairness, Daddy didn’t drink it either, but Noah had missed it.

“How you make it?” he asked, interested. He hadn’t watched Daddy make anything for them to eat today.

“It’s just Sprite, strawberry juice, and frozen strawberries. Do you like it?”

Noah nodded, taking another sip. “Is good.”

“That’s good, bug. Do you want to try making some monsters now?”

That got another nod, and by the time Kurt and Blaine came downstairs, Noah was deeply involved in smashing cloud dough flat and making different shapes with it.

“I like your costume, peanut,” Blaine told Noah, sitting down. He was unsurprised to find himself with a lapful of Kurt.

Noah wouldn’t look at him, but he mumbled, “Fank you. Josh makeded me a f’rocious monster costume yike Oscar.”

“I see that; it’s very scary.” Blaine found himself talking in a softer, gentler voice with Noah, like a spooked horse, and he was grateful to Dave for taking over.

“Baby, do you see what Uncle Blaine and Kurt dressed up as?”

Noah looked up briefly, then nodded and returned to his craft. Josh, asked Kurt, “Do you like Alice in Wonderland?”

“Uh huh. I read it with Daddy.”

“I like the book a lot better than the movie,” Josh commented. “Your costumes are really cool. Did you make them yourself?”

Kurt brightened a little at that, saying, “Uh huh. I couldn’t find a Mad Hatter costume that wasn’t cheesy, and all the White Rabbit costumes were really ‘spensive.”

“I bet. Did you do the sewing?”

Josh calmly continued chatting with Kurt, handing over some of the cloud dough and silently encouraging him to play. Dave and Blaine joined in. It took close to half an hour, but Noah slowly relaxed enough to talk too.

After the boys exhausted all possibilities simply playing with the cloud dough, Josh pulled out some glass jars and craft supplies, showing the boys how to decorate the jars like monster faces before they were filled with cloud dough.

“If you keep the lid on, then you can use it again later,” he explained.

At some point during the activity, Kurt had begun to stare at Josh with open adoration. Blaine and Dave went to the kitchen to put finish putting dinner together, and Josh got Noah situated in his high chair while Kurt cleaned up the table.

“What is for dinner?” Noah asked, swinging his legs restlessly. The high chair wasn’t so bad when it was just Daddy and Josh, although Noah still preferred cuddling on someone’s lap. He didn’t like it when Kurt was around though, and he resolved to himself that he’d bite the other boy if Kurt tried to “help feed the baby.”

“It’s a surprise,” Dave told him, ruffling the boy’s hair as he handed him a sippy cup with more bleeding heart punch.

Noah was surprised to get even more soda, and he managed to keep his grumbles to himself. He didn’t like s’prise food. It usually meant Daddy was trying to trick Noah into eating something new.

Squirming, he waited for Daddy. Noah found himself slightly placated when Josh sat down in the chair next to his and tapped playfully on his knee.

“Hey, little monster,” Josh murmured, smiling at the boy.

“Josssshhhh,” Noah said in a sing-song voice. “What’s my s’prise dinner?”

“Noah,” Josh mimicked, “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”

After telling Noah that, Josh stepped into the kitchen to grab some plates, and Kurt crept over to the pouting baby in the high chair.

“I don’t need help,” Noah told him irritably.

“I know what’s for dinner,” Kurt offered. “You want I should tell you?”

Noah nodded slowly, still suspicious, and Kurt leaned forward closer to murmur, “Is somethin’ wrapped in dough, like rolls? And veggies.”

Just as Kurt was straightening up, Josh appeared behind Noah, holding plates, “Thought it was supposed to be a surprise,” he said quietly.

“Was still a s’prise,” Noah defended. “See?” he made an exaggerated face. “I didn’t know, and now I do, an’ I’m very s’prised.”

“Shocked,” Kurt said solemnly, smiling at Josh. “Was still a surprise, Josh.”

“Was still a s’prise,” Noah agreed. “You don’t needa tell Daddy an’ Uncle Blaine.”

Josh smiled at that. It wasn’t a big deal, and he figured that the fact that the baby was getting along well with Kurt was really more important. He’d tell Dave later, after the boys were in bed.

“What kin’ veg’bles?” Noah asked quietly.

Kurt leaned back in, resting his hands on the high chair, “Raw.”

“Wif dip?” Noah was of the opinion that vegetables were far less offensive when they were coupled with dip.

Kurt nodded, and Noah relaxed a little. Daddy was a good cook, and anything in dough was going to be good. Prob’ly.

Josh smiled, listening to the exchange as he set plates on the table. Deciding to intervene before Blaine or Dave heard anything, he gently turned Kurt toward the kitchen. “Please go and get some napkins,” he instructed.

The boy quickly obeyed. Josh was actually pretty nice, and Kurt felt guilty that he’d been mean last time. He brought napkins back to the table quickly, then sat down in his normal spot.

Blaine came in a moment later with a plate of raw vegetables and dip, and Dave was close behind with drinks for Kurt and Blaine.

“Daddy!” Noah complained. “What is for dinner?”

“Two seconds, bug. Someone is impatient tonight,” Daddy teased, ruffling Noah’s hair on his way back to grab the entree.

Noah pouted a little at that, swinging his legs restlessly, and Josh sat back down beside him, reaching a hand out and gently rubbing Noah’s knee.

“What movie should we watch after dinner?” he asked.

Noah shrugged, and Dave interrupted them, bearing a plate with dinner. “Who wants to eat?” he asked, setting it down.

“What is it?” Noah asked.

“Mummies. Do you want ketchup?”

“Isn’t mummies,” Noah told Daddy. You couldn’t eat mummies. It looked liked bread, kind of.

Dave was plating food for Noah. “It’s hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, but they look like mummies, Mr. Particular. What vegetables?”

They sat down to eat together, and Noah was pleasantly surprised when Daddy mostly let him feed himself. He still had his food cut up in little bits, and he had to use his fingers, but it was finger food anyway. It was yummy, even if it was silly, and Noah was very relaxed by the time he’d finished eating.

“All done, little monster?” Josh asked, chasing Noah’s fingers with a warm, damp, washcloth and wiping them down. “Do you want more vegetables?”

Noah shook his head, docilely allowing Josh to wipe his face as well. That task accomplished, he was released from his high chair.

“Alright then, cookie monster. There are some DVDs on the coffee table. Why don’t you and Kurt pick one out, and we’ll clean up and get some popcorn?”

“An’ cookies,” Noah instructed, even as he walked out to the living room with Kurt close behind.

“And cookies,” Daddy agreed. 

Noah and Kurt surveyed their options; Daddy had mentioned two of them, but Josh apparently had a wider variety to choose from.

Kurt picked up one of them, “You ever seen Wallace and Gromit? It’s funny.”

Noah shook his head, and Kurt continued, “Is about a dumb guy and his dog. The dog is really smart though. I’ve never seen this one, but I’ve seen some of the other ones. Or we could watch Monsters, Inc?” Kurt knew that Noah loved Monsters, Inc.

Josh had picked these movies. Noah figured that even if Kurt was trying to do something mean again, that Josh wouldn’t have picked anything too bad.

“We can watch that one,” he said, pointing at the movie in Kurt’s hand.

Kurt smiled widely. He really liked Wallace and Gromit, and he knew that Noah would too. Plus, Noah was no longer acting like everything that Kurt did was an attempt to make Noah miserable.

“Did you two pick something out?” Josh asked, bringing in a tray of drinks.

“Kurt says this is a good one,” Noah said, taking the movie and showing it to Josh.

“Don’t grab, baby,” Josh admonished gently. 

Noah looked chagrined, “Sorry,” he muttered at Kurt, even as he moved toward Josh’s side and leaned against the man.

“Wasn’t grabbing,” Kurt corrected. “I was just holding, and he took it. Is okay, Noah.”

That got a little smile from Noah, and Josh decided it wasn’t worth the argument. “Baby,” he told Noah, “is Oscar going to watch with us? Do you want your blanky?”

Noah bit his lip, avoiding eye contact. He didn’t want Kurt thinking he was a baby who needed Oscar to watch a baby movie that was maybe just a little bit scary.

Kurt, looking at Noah’s face, recognized the problem. “‘m going to go get James James Morrison. You want I should get you Oscar and your blanket?” he asked.

That garnered a grateful nod from Noah, and a whispered, “Thanks.”

“Thank you, Kurt. That’s very thoughtful,” Josh praised. “The blanket is in the crib, and Oscar is on his chair.”

Kurt nodded, starting up the stairs, and Josh led Noah to the couch and pulled the boy into his lap. 

“You are being such a good boy,” he praised, rubbing Noah’s back until he felt the boy relax against him. “I am so proud of the choices you’re making tonight. You’re really trying to get along with Kurt. I think he wants to be friends, baby.”

Noah didn’t respond to that, curling against Josh and sucking his thumb while he waited for Daddy. Inside, he felt that familiar flutter. Josh said he was proud, and that made being nice to Kurt worth it.

They’d had a few trick or treaters so far, and Dave and Blaine had handled them. Noah wasn’t allowed to answer the door, and Kurt had been busy playing with Josh and the baby. 

Noah hadn’t minded so much. He liked cuddling with Josh, and so he didn’t care that Daddy had to keep getting up to give candy to other kids. It was once he was settled on the couch, curled between Daddy and Josh, that Noah started to get cranky about the constant doorbell.

He liked this movie. It was funny. He didn’t want Daddy getting up and getting the door, and he began to act up.

The first few times, he hadn’t done anything, but the third, he let out a little whine. When that didn’t get him anywhere, Noah escalated, until finally, he grabbed Dave’s arm.

“No!” he said. “We is watchin’ a movie! You leave the candy out there.”

“Noah,” Dave warned, trying to shrug free. “I’m just going to get the candy, baby. Stay here with Josh.”

“NO!” Noah shouted, refusing to be placated. “NO! You STAY!”

Josh stood up, grabbing the candy from the table. “I’m going to give this to the kids; it’s not nice to make them wait,” he directed at Noah.

Dave managed to pull away at that, “I can do it,” he insisted. “Noah is going to sit here with you; he knows better than to act like this. Someone’s going to get an early bedtime if he doesn’t stop.”

“No early bed,” Noah grumped, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring.

Kurt was settled next to Daddy in an oversized chair, watching the scene with wide eyes. Noah wasn’t behaving; Kurt’s daddy would have spanked Kurt for yelling and telling grown ups what to do.

“What’re you looking at?” Noah spat.

“Noah!” Josh admonished, shocked when the boy slid from the couch and onto the floor, shrieking.

“Tell ‘im to stop looking! I don’t want you!” he ordered, kicking and pounding his fists on the floor.

Dave was still at the door, and it sounded like he had a fairly large group. Josh stood up, picking the baby up. He narrowly avoided a fist to his teeth before he managed to pin the boy’s arms.

“Enough, Noah Aaron,” Josh lectured.

Noah gave a furious shriek as Josh heard the door close, and he sat back on the couch and pulled the boy into a tighter hold, “I said that’s enough.”

“Noah!” Daddy said. He’d heard the noise from the door, but he hadn’t realized that Noah was throwing a tantrum. The baby sometimes got a little bit cranky, but he didn’t throw tantrums very often. It normally took a lot of upset to get him to this point. “Do you need to go to bed?” he asked.

“NO! NO NO NO! NO BED!” 

Daddy nodded at that, leaning over to pick the struggling boy up, “I think it’s time to say night night, bug. You’re a sleepy little boy right now.”

“AM NOT!”

“Do you want to say good night?” Dave asked, very patient.

“‘m Not! Going! SLEEP!”

“Kurt,” Blaine murmured, “Say good night to Noah.” The baby was escalating, and Blaine didn’t see how letting it continue would help.

“Night,” Kurt mumbled, not making eye contact. Noah was throwing big tantrums, and he was acting like he wasn’t even worried about spankings.

“Night, little monster,” Josh told him. He’d maybe gone overboard with all of the Halloween stuff, and it looked like Noah had gotten a little bit overwhelmed. “I love you, baby.”

“NO BED!”

“Do you need help?” Josh asked.

Dave shook his head, finally setting Noah on his feet and landing a hard swat to the back of his thigh. It didn’t really hurt through the costume, but Noah felt it. He jumped with a wail, then turned tail and ran up the stairs.

“He’s fun, huh?” Dave joked, grabbing the abandoned blanket and stuffed monster.

“Do you want me to make up a bottle for him?” Josh asked. 

“Would you?” Dave said. “I don’t want to leave him too long.”

“No problem.”

“Give me about 15 minutes? He already took a bath, but that should give me time to get Mr. Cranky into a clean diaper and his jammies.”

“There are books,” Josh told him. “In the bag, by the crib. I thought he’d like them.”

Dave nodded, smiling, “Thank you.” Looking at Blaine and Kurt, Dave said, “I’ll be back down in half an hour. I’m sorry.”

“It happens,” Blaine said, waving it off. “You’ve seen your share of behaviors,” he added, poking Kurt in the side.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kurt said, tone highly dignified. 

Dave slowly made his way upstairs, finding Noah sitting in his rocking chair with a pout. “‘m not tired,” he told Dave.

“Okay sweetpea, but it’s been a long day, and it’s time for you to go night night,” Dave explained. “We’ll get you into your jammies and brush your teeth, then we’ll have story time and a bottle. You’ll be ready for sleep then.”

“Will not.”

Dave picked Noah up, happy when the baby didn’t begin fighting back. Toting Noah over to the changing table and putting him back down. The costume was a little more complex than Noah’s typical clothes, but Daddy had him stripped to his diaper pretty quickly.

“You’re soaked,” Daddy told Noah, tickling at his belly. “Why didn’t you tell someone, bug?”

Noah didn’t respond, staring determinedly at the ceiling. Stupid Daddy shouldn’t be making him go to sleep just acause he wanted cuddles.

Dave focused on getting Noah into a clean diaper before helping the boy down and going to get pajamas.

“Which pair, my Noah?”

“Want my monsters, yike Oscar.”

“Sweetheart, those are dirty. You wore them last night. How about dinos?”

“Want. Monsters.” Noah insisted.

“I understand, and I’ll wash them tomorrow for you, but tonight, it’s got to be something else. Do you want your dinos, or would you rather have sharks?”

“Monsters.”

“Do I need to count?” Dave asked. He didn’t sound angry, just very firm. “Tonight, you can have either dinosaurs, or you can have sharks. One.”

“Monsters.”

Dave didn’t bother to respond to that, saying, “Two.”

“Monsters! I want MONSTERS!”

“Three,” Dave finished, grabbing the dinosaur pajamas. Noah liked these. Not as much as the monster pajamas, but he liked the dinos. “I think it’s a T Rex night, huh bug?”

“MONSTERS!”

“I understand, but you can’t have them tonight. Come here, it’s time to get your jammies on,” Dave said, sitting in the chair and motioning.

Noah crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Daddy. The look faltered when Dave started to stand up, and he found himself moving to stand in front Daddy.

Dave didn’t say anything about the behavior, dressing Noah like usual. Once the boy was clad in his pajamas, Daddy said, “Josh brought books, baby. Do you want to try reading them?”

Noah didn’t want to cry, but he felt itchy on the inside, like he needed to flop on the ground and kick and scream. He settled for sniffling a little, staring dejectedly at the floor. Raising his hands, he scrubbed at his face.

“Oh, bug,” Daddy murmured, picking him up and pulling him into the rocker. “It’s been a big day, huh?”

That got a nod, and Daddy began rocking. “Big day, and too much excitement for little bugs. I’m sorry; I should have thought about that.”

“Was fun,” Noah whispered. He felt a little bit better now that Daddy was rocking with him.

“Yeah? You had a good time?”

“Uh huh.”

“Just too much?”

“Yeah,” Noah admitted, feeling very confused. It had been fun. Halloween was maybe not for babies. Maybe it was like other stuff that Noah had thought was just for babies. Daddy always explained it away as things being different in their family.

They rocked slowly, waiting for Josh and the bottle. The other man didn’t make them wait long, and he handed over the bottle immediately.

“Hey, sugar,” Josh murmured, running his hand through Noah’s hair. “Feeling better?”

Noah nodded, whispering, “‘m sorry.”

“About what, monster?” Josh whispered back.

“Bein’ naughty. I didn’t mean it.”

“I know, cookie monster. Just too many big feelings for little boys,” Josh told him. “It’s not a big deal. We had fun.”

Noah nodded, “Fank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Josh told him. “Are you and Daddy going to read? I brought some books with me.”

“I see ‘em, please?”

“Absolutely, little monster. I brought them for you,” Josh said, pulling three picture books out of a reusable shopping bag. 

Noah ran a finger over the colorful covers, slowly reading, “Go to Bed, Monster!, Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters, and Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli.”

“You’re such a good reader,” Josh told him, smiling. Dave had told him that he wasn’t sure how Noah had even attended high school, let alone graduated, with the problems he had with reading. He’d improved immensely, but it was still a struggle.

“You read wif me and Daddy?” Noah offered, ignoring the compliment. Josh was wrong; he wasn’t a good reader.

“I’d love to,” Josh told him, settling on the floor beside the chair. 

Dave handed the books over, “How about you read,” he said, sliding off the chair and onto the floor beside Josh. “That way, I can give Noah his bottle.”

“Which one, monster?”

Noah pointed at Go to Bed, Monster!, and Josh began. By the time the story finished, Noah’s eyes were drooping, and Daddy slowly shifted him to Josh, standing up.

“I think it’s time for you to sleep,” he whispered, stooping to pick Noah up and transfer him to the crib.

Noah’s hands scrambled against Dave’s chest, “No go! We talk first!”

“Why don’t we talk tomorrow?” Dave asked. Noah looked like he was ready to drop. 

“We talk ‘fore bed, Daddy,” Noah told him, even as he yawned.

“Okay, but it’s going to be a quick chat tonight. Got it?” Dave asked. When Noah nodded, Dave did a quick run through of the day. Noah was too tired to talk much, barely keeping his eyes open as Daddy talked.

“I was a yiddle cranky afore bed,” he mumbled once.

Josh nodded, rubbing Noah’s arm, “A little bit, but you turned it around.”

“I not in trouble though. I stopped,” Noah mumbled.

“You’re not in any trouble,” Dave agreed. “If you were in trouble, then we would talk about it. We’re not waiting to punish you, cuddle bug. You were a little bit crabby; that’s why you’re in bed. You need more sleep.”

Noah nodded sleepily, and Dave decided to wrap things up, “And then we read stories,” he finished, leaning forward to kiss Noah’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, my Noah. I love you.”

“Love you, Daddy,” Noah whispered. “Love you, Josh.”

“I love you, cookie monster,” Josh told him, situating the monster and blanket in beside Noah before covering the little boy.

With final hugs and kisses, Daddy drew up the side of the crib while Josh turned on the nightlight, and they left Noah in the semi-darkness. He was asleep before they reached the stairs.

Daddy and Josh stayed up for a while longer with Blaine and Kurt. Kurt wanted to finish the movie, and Blaine, Dave, and Josh cleaned up and talked. It had been an exciting day, at the end of a long week, and everyone was in bed by 11:00.

Noah woke up after everyone went to bed, blinking and rubbing at his eyes. He couldn’t remember what had brought him from a sound sleep, and he sat up, opening his mouth to yell for Daddy.

“Shhhh,” came the frantic whisper, Kurt reaching a hand through the bar and touching Noah’s face. 

He got a cranky glare, “Is night time, Kurt. ‘m aposed to sleep right now. You is prob’ly aposed to sleep right now too.”

“I know,” Kurt whispered back. “But there is choc’late downstairs. You want candy?”

That was actually kind of interesting, and Noah nodded slowly. “‘m in my crib though. I can’t get out. I tried to climb out, and I got a big spankin’ acause that’s dangerous, Noah Aaron.”

“I can get you out,” Kurt promised, looking at the sides of the crib. It took him a minute, but he figured it out, sliding the side down silently and then smiling triumphantly. “We gotta be super quiet, like burglars.”

“I can be quiet like ninjas,” Noah whispered. He slowly climbed from the crib, walking in an exaggerated fashion toward the door. “See? ‘m quiet.”

The boys snuck down the stairs together, locating the bowl of candy where Dave had left it on the counter. After switching on the light, they sat on the floor together and began to unwrap.

After several pieces, Kurt noticed that there were notes on the inside. Looking one over, he smiled widely, “Says chocolate is always a good idea,” he whispered, showing it to Noah.

“Then we should eat more,” Noah whispered back.

The boys became so involved in their chocolate orgy that they didn’t hear quiet footsteps down the stairs. They didn’t realize that they were caught until Dave interrupted.

“What are you two doing out of bed?”

Noah startled, dropping the half-wrapped candy on the floor, then going stock still as though Daddy wouldn’t be able to see him.

Dave sighed, lifting the baby to his feet and dusting off his backside with more force than was really necessary, “I asked you a question, Noah Aaron.”

“We was....”Noah trailed off. There was no good answer here.

Kurt felt guilty, having gotten the baby into trouble, and he piped in, “We was eatin’ candy, Uncle Dave. It was my idea, but the choc’late said we should.”

“What?” Dave asked.

Kurt quickly shuffled through the rather large pile of wrappers, finally finding it and holding it up triumphantly, “See? Says choc’late is always a good idea. We was just doin’ what the choc’late says.”

“Was bein’ good listeners?” Noah tried.

Dave couldn’t help but snort at that, although he managed to get a hold of himself rather quickly, and he went back to gazing at the boys sternly.

“I think we need to wake Uncle Blaine up. I’m pretty sure that a certain someone is not supposed to be prowling the house in the night, eating his weight in chocolate.”

Kurt’s eyes widened, “But...I was just havin’ fun? Noah was sad earlier?”

“Clean that up,” Dave instructed quietly, nodding to the mess. Both boys did as they were told, eager to toss the evidence of their misdeeds before Dave counted how much candy had been consumed. When that was accomplished, Dave hoisted Noah onto his hip and held a hand out for Kurt, “Come on, sweetheart. I think your daddy needs to hear about this.”

“I don’t think he does,” Kurt explained. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll just go back to bed; I’m super sleepy, Uncle Dave.”

“Nice try, sweetheart,” Dave told him gesturing again for Kurt to take his hand.

Noah rested his head on Daddy’s shoulder. He felt icky now. When Dave began swaying, it didn’t make Noah feel better like it normally did.

Kurt reluctantly took Uncle Dave’s hand, allowing himself to be led upstairs, even as he continued to argue. “I really don’t think we need Daddy, Uncle Dave.”

“I know,” Dave told him, letting go of Kurt’s hand long enough to knock on the guestroom door, “Blaine?” he called quietly. “I found something of yours downstairs.”

A half-asleep Blaine opened the door, blinking. He was confused until he saw Kurt half hidden behind Uncle Dave.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“About 2:00.”

Blaine nodded at that, holding out a hand for Kurt. When the boy didn’t step forward, Blaine’s expression hardened, and he snapped his fingers loudly before pointing at a spot immediately in front of him.

Kurt slowly crept forward, shoulders hunched. He wasn’t really supposed to get out of bed without permission. He sometimes had trouble with sleeping, and so Daddy had a rule about him staying in bed.

“What were you doing out of bed, Kurt Elizabeth?” 

That wasn’t good. Daddy also had rules about food. Just because Kurt had a tendency to skip eating for hours and then eat a ton of junk. Kurt stared at his feet, jumping when Daddy reached out to swat.

“Now, Kurt Elizabeth.”

“I was eatin’ chocolate,” Kurt whispered. He was going to get a spanking, and Daddy normally made him take a nap if he got caught sneaking out of bed.

Blaine nodded, asking, “Did I tell you earlier that you’d had enough candy?” 

Kurt nodded, whispering, “Yes sir.”

“And you got the baby out of bed?”

“Yes sir.”

Blaine nodded at Dave, saying, “You need to apologize then. You know better than to just help yourself to junk food, and I know we’ve talked about you staying in bed. You shouldn’t have gotten Noah up.”

“‘m sorry, Uncle Dave,” Kurt whispered, fighting back tears. Daddy sounded really disappointed.

“Thank you for apologizing,” Dave told him. “I’m not happy that you decided to do this, but it’s not all your fault. Noah knew better too.”

Noah was feeling even ickier, and he just wanted to go back to bed. His tummy hurt. That was too much chocolate.

“What’s going on?” Josh asked, walking out in the hallway.

“Josh spenda night?” Noah asked, lifting his head up to look at the other man. He didn’t know that Daddy and Josh were cuddling in the big bed. That wasn’t fair.

“Is there a party going on that I didn’t know about?” Josh joked.

Noah made grabby hands for him. He would rather have Josh, who didn’t sound all upset, than Daddy. Dave obligingly handed Noah over, and the boy closed his eyes. He felt yuck, and he wanted to go back to bed. 

Suddenly, he realized that he wasn’t just tired. His stomach really hurt. “Down! Down!” he began insisting frantically.

“What? You’re okay, Noah,” Josh told him, bouncing the baby a few times.

It was one motion too much for Noah, who stopped trying to squirm away from Josh and vomited all over the other man. Gagging and coughing, as soon as he finished, he started crying.

“‘m sorry! ‘m really sorry!” he insisted, hugging himself tightly.

Josh had closed his eyes and was taking shallow breaths through his mouth. He was not going to get sick. Noah needed him to man up. After a minute, he opened his eyes and began rubbing Noah’s back.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. It happens. Not your fault, little monster. You didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I didn’t! I swear! It was an ac’dent!”

“It’s okay,” Josh soothed.

Blaine stepped forward, smiling sympathetically at Noah. “Hey peanut. You got a sick tummy?”

Noah started to bury his face against Josh’s shoulder, mortified, but then he realized that Josh’s shoulder was covered in puke. Letting out a mortified wail, Noah covered his face.

“It’s probably just the chocolate,” Blaine told Dave. “Are you okay, or do you want help?”

“I’ve got it,” Dave told him.

“Then Kurt and I have something to discuss,” Blaine said, ushering his baby back into the bedroom and closing the door.

“Okay, monster,” Josh told Noah, starting toward the bathroom. “We’re going to get you all cleaned up. How does that sound?”

“I didn’t meana frow up on you.”

“I know, baby,” Josh murmured, trying to set the boy down so he could turn on the water. Noah wasn’t having it, and Josh sat on the edge of the tub with Noah in his lap so he could run the bath.

Dave stood in the doorway, saying, “I can do this, if you want to hop in the shower.”

Noah wanted to cling to Josh, but he’d made his poor Josh all smelly and gross. Sniffling a little, he said, “You can take a shower.”

“Are you sure, cookie monster?”

“‘m brave,” Noah insisted. “I can stay wif Daddy.”

“Alright. Let’s get you undressed first. Dave, can you get clean pajamas and a new diaper?”

“Of course,” Dave told him, stopping to touch Noah’s hair. “I’ll be right back.”

Josh helped Noah into the bath, sitting beside the tub and talking quietly to the still sniffling little boy.

“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked gently.

“We sneaked to the kitchen and eatted choc’late,” Noah admitted, face burning with shame. He wasn’t ‘llowed to get out of his crib, an’ he wasn’t ‘llowed to get a snack wifout a grown up, an’ he frowed up on Josh. Nobody had ever said that he shouldn’t do that, but Noah knew that it was bad. Daddy was going to spank his naughty butt. “‘m sorry.”

“I know, sweet boy,” Josh told him. “It was a mistake; that’s all.”

“Daddy’s gonna spank me,” Noah whispered miserably. He wasn’t making a bid for sympathy; he thought he should get spanked. That was a lot of bad in one night, even for Noah. Especially after Daddy didn’t spank Noah for being a cranky, tantrum throwing, baby.

“Maybe,” Josh allowed. Dave came in then, and Josh looked up at him. “Noah’s worried that he’s going to get a spanking.”

Dave looked down at the baby. He really didn’t want to spank Noah. He’d already thrown up, and he felt like a sick tummy was a pretty good punishment for eating candy when he wasn’t supposed to.

“Nope, bug. You shouldn’t have done that. It was naughty,” he explained, sitting beside Josh. “I’m guessing you won’t do it again, though.”

Noah nodded, “I won’t.”

“Then we’re good. You already threw up. I’m not going to spank you on top of that.”

After Dave finished explaining, Josh stood up, gesturing toward the door, “I’m going to take a quick shower. I’ll come out and say good night before you go back to sleep, okay, my little monster?”

“You don’t gotta. I already wakeded you up and frowed up on you.”

“I’m going to come tell you good night once I get cleaned up,” Josh told him, squatting down to make eye contact. “I want to do it.”

Noah smiled a little at that, and Josh left. Dave washed Noah quickly, getting him out of the tub and into a clean diaper and new pajamas. After helping the boy brush his teeth, Daddy asked, “Is your tummy still icky?”

“A yiddle,” Noah allowed. He jumped when he heard a noise coming from the guest bedroom. “Kurt is gettin’ a spankin’?”

“Sounds like it,” Dave told him. 

“No,” Noah whined a little. “Is not fair.”

“Uncle Blaine is Kurt’s daddy, and that means he’s the boss of Kurt.”

“But I didn’t get a spankin’.”

“Nope. Not this time. But Kurt didn’t throw up.”

“That’s more bad though,” Noah explained. “Acause I frowed up all over my Josh. That was naughty.”

Dave nodded, picking Noah up and carrying him downstairs. He set the boy on the counter as he moved around the kitchen, making up a sippy cup.

“It’s not more bad. You can’t help getting sick,” Dave explained kindly. “Sometimes that happens. It’s not your fault. Except you shouldn’t have had the candy, but you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Noah chewed on his lower lip, feeling tremendously guilty, “I should get a spankin’ too.”

Dave picked Noah up, walking to the couch and cuddling him close. “You’re not getting a spanking.”

“But I was naughty,” Noah insisted, twisting his hands together.

“Noah, who is the boss?” Dave asked, forcing the boy to make eye contact.

“Daddy. An’ sometimes Josh, if’n he’s here. An’ Uncle Blaine if’n he is my Noahsitter.”

“Are you sure? Is Noah the boss?”

Noah shook his head, repeating something Daddy told him, “‘m yiddle. That means ‘m not the boss.”

“That’s exactly right. And that means you don’t decide when you get punishment. Daddy decides. And I’m saying?”

“No spankin’,” Noah whispered.

“That’s right. Your icky tummy is enough of a punishment. Here, drink this,” he instructed, handing the cup to Noah.

He took a sip, wrinkling his nose, “More soda?”

“It’s ginger ale,” Dave explained. “Ginger ale helps a sick tummy. Go on; drink it all, then it’s back to bed, my baby.”

Noah nodded, sipping a little. He hadn’t felt icky like this since he’d found Daddy, but Daddy usually knew what would make Noah feel better.

Rubbing Noah’s back, Dave waited. Josh joined them after a while, wearing a pair of borrowed pajama pants.

“Are you feeling better, monster?” Josh asked, sitting beside Dave.

Noah nodded, squirming so he was half on Josh’s lap as well, “My tummy is a yiddle icky, but Daddy giveded me soda.”

“You’ve had a lot of soda today,” Josh commented.

“Uh huh. But is for my tummy, so is not junk food,” Noah explained.

“Well, that’s okay then.”

Noah relaxed against both of them, drinking from his sippy cup. His tummy was feeling better. Daddy and Josh talked quietly, but Noah didn’t pay much attention.

When the cup was empty, he sighed, whispering, “Is all gone. You fink Uncle Blaine is all done spankin’ Kurt?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. Kurt’s probably asleep already,” Dave told him. “You ready to go back up to bed?”

“I-” Noah stopped himself. 

“What, cookie?” Josh asked him.

“Nofin’. I go in my crib now.”

Josh looked at Dave, raising his eyebrows, and he was happy when Dave said, “Do you want to have sleepy cuddles, my baby?”

“Is okay,” Noah sighed. “I was naughty. I shouldn’ get to sleep inna big bed.”

“Who is the boss?”

“Daddy, but I was-”

“You did something naughty, but we talked about it, and it’s over now. Do you want to sleep in the big bed?”

“Is okay?” Noah asked, looking at Josh. “I not frow up on you again.”

“It would be okay if you did,” Josh told him. “It was a little bit icky, but you didn’t mean to do it. And I would love to cuddle some more.”

“I sleep inna big bed,” Noah whispered, blushing a little bit.

“Then I think it’s time to go upstairs,” Dave said. Josh stood up first, reaching for the baby and cuddling him as they walked up the steps.

“We need to stop and get Oscar, and your blanky. Do you need your nightlight?”

“Not if’n I gots you and Daddy,” Noah explained, reaching happily for Oscar and his blanket when Josh leaned into the crib. “We is sleepin’ inna big bed, Oscar,” Noah told the monster, giving him a hug.

Josh smiled at that. The narrating things to Oscar was a new habit, and it made Josh think of the way Dave talked to the baby. Tucking Noah into the bed, Josh climbed in on one side and Dave on the other.

“You-”

“What, bug?” Dave asked patiently, when Noah stopped.

“Oscar wants sweet dreams?” Noah suggested, adding, “He says please.”

Dave smiled at that, gently stroking the patch of fur on Oscar’s neck. “Sweet dreams, Oscar. Sweet dreams, my Noah. I love you.”

That got a wide smile from the baby, who turned to look expectantly at Josh. The other man said, “I love you, Noah.”

“Even if I frowed up on you,” Noah whispered.

“Even though you threw up on me,” Josh agreed.

“I yove you, my Josh,” Noah told him, giving the man a tight hug. He twisted to look at Dave, saying, “I yove you, my Daddy.”

Dave smiled, turning off the light. All things considered, Halloween had actually been pretty good. Even if Kurt had ended up getting spanked, it seemed like the baby was learning to get along with him.


End file.
